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Classic TV Toys just got a bunch of licenses for 8" Mego figures...

A lot of Mego repro figures plus others done in the style. Sounds really good on a lot of counts, but there are concerns for me.

The good: I have no original Megos in their original costumes; everything I have is majorly customized with few if any Mego parts other than the body and the head. So having some "real" Megos is very appealing to me. Also having figures to flesh out existing lines like the Dukes of Hazzard would be welcome. We got the Duke boys (both sets) and Boss Hogg as decent figures. Then we got an abomination that would give kids nightmares as Daisy Duke, and never got any of the other major, needed characters. 8" figures of the Batman TV series would definitely be something I couldn't pass on (they show King Tut on the carry case, and list him as coming in a future wave. An actual, official figure of Tut-Tut makes me want to squeal like a kid!). Finally having a Jane to go with a lonely jungle lord, possibly more comic styled Bat villains, even Conan's literary buddies will likely have me pre-ordering. But...

the bad: I've gotten figures from CTVT before; one of their early offerings was a very extensive line of Space 1999 figures that I ran across. Full set for what seemed a good price (closeout). The first wave, based on the Palitoy (the folks who did Mego figures in Europe) figures actually released in the day, were proportional dupicates. The subsequent figures were horrifically scaled, with humongous noggins, esepcially the females (think the Biff Bang Pow figures out right now in this scale, only worse). And the bodies were useless. If you though the Mattel Megos were bad, you don't know bad. The bodies were almost straight re-dos of the classic type 2 Mego bodies, but were strung so that the joints were useless, and some figures came out of the package with broken limbs. One even had a partly melted thigh. They were, in a word, horrific. I've heard that quality has improved with their recent KISS 8" figures, and those look like the heads aren't suffering from encephalitis, so I'm hoping for something better here. I don't want to get the figures and then be tempted to dig out some old Mego bodies or buy new ones from Dr. Mego/EMCE. I really want to see the product before passing judgement.

So what do folks think? Anyone gotten anything recent from them who can comment on quality? Anyone else excited at the prospects here, or worried about it not living up to expectations?

"I will use this power for all the good that can be done, to work for peace, to encourage virtue, and above all, to preserve life in all its forms..." Superman

Eh... okay, Batman is nice enough. Kiss should sell though every time Gene Simmons opens his mouth anymore people want to deck him. Conan and Tarzan might have some collector interest but Tarzan's full body suit trying to mimic skin looks pretty bad. Evel Knievel might've been big in the 70s but now he's just an old racist who isn't relevant. I don't know of anyone who's really jumping for joy over Gilligan's Island or Dallas, and the line does seem to reek mostly of "these licenses were cheap". Dallas and Gilligan are 12" which means a good chance they'll be highly expensive and sell poorly.

I have to wonder why no Gunsmoke, Bonanza or Andy Griffith? Gunsmoke ran 20 years and I'd have to think a Marshal Dillon figure would sell better than Gilligan.

Personally I think the Mego type body is bad. After owning Mattel's Ghostbusters I don't think I'd dig into that type of toy again, where articulation is limited for that retro feel. I also suspect the market for these might not be as big as the company is hoping for- buying up random licenses with no market interest is what killed Rhino and ADV.

I had a few 8" Mego's about 10 years ago but traded them for Transformers. Although I am way more into Transformers, I kind of miss those Mego's. I never had the 8" Mego's when I was a kid. But I did have the 3 3/4" Dukes of Hazzard and Chips figures. At this point, I have no interest in collecting anything new. But I am happy for the Mego collectors that will enjoy getting new figures to round out their collection.

"There's only one Master of the Universe and it's He-Man." - Stephen Colbert

"The heart has its reasons of which reason knows nothing." - Blaise Pascal

Very good news for collectors of that style. I was as a very young youngster, but the designs no longer really appeal to me. but VERY happy for my Mego collecting friends. This is right up their alley.

That's kind of a problem with Mego stuff- it really appeals to a niche market. Mattel's stuff sold rather poorly in stores. I wanted to like their Ghostbusters but they couldn't even hold their proton guns properly.

I'm not opposed to retro toys- I actually prefer the aesthetic of a lot of G1 Transformers to Classics updates and movie/Prime/IDW- though even I can admit when something old is not great. I'd take MOTUC over vintage MOTU any day and as much as I now hate the brand, modern GI Joe is sculpturally better than vintage(if they'd only ditch that stupid chest joint and return to a waist). Older is not always th ebette roption and these new Mego figures lack a lot of useful articulation to maintain a retro feel.

That's kind of a problem with Mego stuff- it really appeals to a niche market. Mattel's stuff sold rather poorly in stores. I wanted to like their Ghostbusters but they couldn't even hold their proton guns properly.

I'm not opposed to retro toys- I actually prefer the aesthetic of a lot of G1 Transformers to Classics updates and movie/Prime/IDW- though even I can admit when something old is not great. I'd take MOTUC over vintage MOTU any day and as much as I now hate the brand, modern GI Joe is sculpturally better than vintage(if they'd only ditch that stupid chest joint and return to a waist). Older is not always th ebette roption and these new Mego figures lack a lot of useful articulation to maintain a retro feel.

Oh for sure. i hope they do well with them, and I know a lot of friends here dig Megos, but to me, they just look cheesy. I know back int he 70's and 80's they were awesome, but to me, today, they are nothing but cheesiness, which is the only appeal I see personally to collect this upcoming line (or the Mattel Retros)...but just not my thing.

Personally I think the Mego type body is bad. After owning Mattel's Ghostbusters I don't think I'd dig into that type of toy again, where articulation is limited for that retro feel. I also suspect the market for these might not be as big as the company is hoping for- buying up random licenses with no market interest is what killed Rhino and ADV.

Actually, the Mattel figures were a pathetic substitute for the old Mego type 2 body. THe only real articulation the male bodies were lacking was an upper arm swivel and ball-type necks (the ladies did have the latter). And unlike a lot of the super-posable bodies today (like many of the 12" figures), they were solid bodies, not padded skeletons. Tarzan doesn't need a full bodysuit switched to a type 2 body; he looks fine without it. Now I don't know about these bodies, but the Diamond releases like Star Trek use the Dr. Mego bodies that cure the old knee joint and broken thumb problems of the old figures, and are nice and solid. Mego's biggest failure was in the cheapness and fit of the costumes. Look at the stuff made by Zica or the great Charlie Flatt for what an 8" figure CAN be if done right.

I do have to agree that some of the licenses seem like what was available, although the popular new Dallas just featuring the death of JR makes that a pretty good bet. Not sure if there's a big market for Gilligan, but it's never been off the air since it went into syndication.

I don't know how these will go over; the Mattel stuff had distribution problems and horrifically designed bodies that flopped all over, as well as poor head sculpts in a number of cases. If the stuff here is true to Mego (who still made the best Green Arrow head ever), it may have a better chance. Of course, if figures fall apart as soon as you open the package, then were back in Mattel's arena here...

One thing I still maintain, though: put a decent fitting costume on a type 2 body with a decent head, and you've got the closest thing you will see to what a super hero would look like in real life.

"I will use this power for all the good that can be done, to work for peace, to encourage virtue, and above all, to preserve life in all its forms..." Superman

Between Mattel having the 6" Adam West license, and Neca presumably having the 18" Keaton film and West licenses, it feels a bit redundant redundant to have a 3rd line based on the show.

Gilligan stays on the air because it's a goofy show, I think,and shows that get canned tend to gain cult followings. But I think the network did the right thing by canning it in favor of renewing Gunsmoke.

Could their Obama likeness be further off? He's a political figure which makes his likeness public domain so it's not like they need to dodge using it or pay him.

Could their Obama likeness be further off? He's a political figure which makes his likeness public domain so it's not like they need to dodge using it or pay him.

That's a concern on all the figures, really. I've seen the prototype heads for Joker and Egghead (TV show), and they are both pretty good (Eggy is immediately recognizable as Price; the Joker maybe not as much). Of course, Mego rarely had a great likeness for actual people, either, but I don't know if they had the rights to the actual actor's faces or not at the time (different licensing world back then). I recall this company doing the Munsters, and I passed on those even though I love Hermie-Baby. Herman and Grampa were generic, and they basically recycled the Mego Invisible Girl head for both Marilyn and Lily.

I really wish EMCE/Doc Mego had been involved in this as they have been with the Diamond Trek line, as those are exactly the kind of Mego figures I would hope we get here. The concept is great for an old Mego fan, but I'm leery of whether or not this particular company can pull it off. Their track record, at least in my eyes, is iffy.

Between Mattel having the 6" Adam West license, and Neca presumably having the 18" Keaton film and West licenses, it feels a bit redundant redundant to have a 3rd line based on the show.

There's more than Batman to this license, which is all we'll likely get from NECA (maybe Robin and Joker, but I'm not holding my breath). "Re-use or DIE" is Mattel's never ending mantra, so we'll be lucky to get Batgirl, much less anybody beyond what we've seen in their line. This particular type of figure is pretty much the ONLY way we'd ever see Egghead or Bookworm or Tut-Tut, much less some of the other they listed. There'd be way too many new molds for Mattel to even consider here without imploding into a black hole. A line offering all this (hopefully, anyway) is far from redundant, since it will offer things we most likely won't see from the others.

Last edited by scott metzger; April 18, 2013 at 03:58pm.

"I will use this power for all the good that can be done, to work for peace, to encourage virtue, and above all, to preserve life in all its forms..." Superman